Money, polls and the race for governor

In the weeks before he announced he was running for governor of New Mexico, Republican Steve Pearce spent more than $82,000 on polling.

That’s not surprising. Politicians poll all the time.

The only thing that looks kind of funny about this one is that it wasn’t Pearce’s gubernatorial campaign that paid the pollsters, but his congressional campaign.

There are three polling expenditures listed in the People for Pearce July quarterly report filed with the Federal Election Commission.

On May 30, he paid The Tarrance Group of Alexandria, Va., $31,504. A little more than three weeks later, on June 23, the campaign paid that company an even $35,000.

Also on June 23, People for Pearce paid WBW Strategies, also of Alexandria, $15,805 for polling. WBW is a limited partnership headed by William “Wild Bill” Wykpisz, who built a reputation in the area of opposition research. He’s worked as director of research for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (in the 2008 election cycle) and deputy director of research for the National Republican Congressional Committee (in the 2006 cycle).

On July 10, Pearce formally announced that he would run for governor instead of seeking another term in Congress — though for months he made no secret that he was considering such a move.

Asked about the polling expenses, Pearce spokesman Greg Blair said Thursday, “These are bills paid under federal election rules for long-standing consultants. As you know, the Nancy Pelosi attack machine has repeatedly targeted Steve Pearce for defeat because he will not buckle to the Washington, D.C., special interests.”

Maybe one of those pollsters advised Pearce to blast Nancy Pelosi even when the House Democratic leader has nothing to do with the issue at hand.

A spokesman for Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver declined to give an opinion on Pearce’s polling expenditures, saying it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment without knowing what was in the poll.

But Pearce and Oliver already are entwined in a similar issue in the federal courts.

Pearce is suing Oliver in federal court in a dispute over whether he can transfer money from his congressional campaign — his July report showed he had about a million dollars cash on hand — to his gubernatorial campaign.

Oliver, a Democrat, says Pearce is bound by New Mexico’s campaign contribution limits, which means he can’t take more than $11,000 from the congressional campaign ($5,500 for the primary election and $5,500 for the general election) to pay for his campaign for governor.

Pearce is arguing that all the contributions made to his congressional campaign were less than the maximum contribution allowed by state law — the federal limit for congressional races is $2,700 — so all that money could legally be transferred to his gubernatorial account.

It’s not clear when the federal court will determine the answer to this million-dollar question.

Pearce so far is the only Republican seeking the Governor’s Office. Incumbent Republican Susana Martinez cannot legally run for a third consecutive term.

Another member of the state congressional delegation, Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, is running for the Democratic nomination for governor. She has said she’ll limit the money she uses from her congressional campaign account to $5,500.

As for expenditures, I checked Lujan Grisham’s congressional campaign spending reports since her last election and found no polling expenditures or any other significant expense that might be directly related to her gubernatorial race.

Lujan Grisham’s race was so noncompetitive — she won with more than 65 percent of the vote in her district — that a cynic could argue that every dime she spent in 2016 was to help her 2018 governor’s race.

Of course, a nonpartisan cynic could say the same thing about Pearce, who won with nearly 63 percent of the vote.